Training village midwives and community health workers to deliver quality, last-mile antenatal care to local communities.
More than one in four children under the age of five suffers from stunting in Indonesia, and the effects of stunting can persist throughout their lifetime.
Quantedge Advancement Initiative partnered the 1000 Days Fund on its mission to end stunting in Indonesia by 2030, through supporting its Stunting Centre of Excellence in West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
The Stunting Centre of Excellence adopts a train-the-trainer approach. Village midwives are trained in topics such as pregnancy management, lactation management and anthropometry. These midwives go on to train community health workers in the local villages, equipping them with the necessary knowledge and tools to deliver quality, last-mile antenatal care to the villagers.
The village midwives and community health workers also assist with the distribution of Smart Charts - an innovative yet low cost height chart developed by 1000 Days Fund - to the villagers. The Smart Charts contain key messages on stunting that have been effective in improving caregivers’ knowledge and sustaining behaviour changes on antenatal care.
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Stunting is irreversible, but it can be prevented if a child receives quality care in the early years of life. Through supporting the Stunting Centre of Excellence, we hope to provide the local communities in East Nusa Tenggara with access to knowledge and services on quality antenatal care, and transform their lives in the long term.
Outcomes
Over the past two years, the Stunting Centre of Excellence has achieved the following outcomes across 160 villages in West Manggarai:
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Trained 350 village midwives and 2,176 community health workers
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Reached 30,263 pregnant women and caregivers with children under 2 years old ​
Additionally, the 1000 Days Fund has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 16 village governments and secured their commitment to allocate budget to train and tenure community health workers.
In the next phase of the Stunting Centre of Excellence, the 1000 Days Fund will partner with 20 selected, committed villages to assist village midwives in training community health workers. The aspiration is to hand the programme over to the local government and develop a model that can be scaled across Indonesia.